American History and Genealogy Project

Florida Territory

Florida, territory, is bounded n. by
Alabama and Georgia; e. by the Atlantic; s. and w. by the Gulf
of Mexico. It lies between 25° and 31° n. lat., and between 80°
and 87° 44' w. long., and between 3° and 10° 44' w. from W. It
is 385 miles long, and from 50 to 250 wide, containing 57,000
square miles, or 37,000,000 acres. The population in 1830, was
34,723; in 1840, 54,477, of which 16,456 were white males,
11,487 females; free colored persons, males 398, females 419;
slaves, males 13,038, females 12,679. Employed in agriculture,
12,117; in commerce, 481; in manufactures and trades, 1,177;
navigating the ocean, 435; do. canal and rivers, 118; learned
professions and engineers, 204.

This territory is divided into 20 counties, which, with their
population in 1840, and their capitals, are as follows:

County, Population, Capital

West Florida

Escambia, 3,993, Pensacola

Walton, 1,461, Euchee Anna

Middle Florida

Gadsden, 5,992, Quincy

Hamilton, 1,464, Jasper

Jefferson, 5,713, Monticello

Leon, 10,713, Tallahassee

Madison, 2,644, Madison

East Florida

Alachua, 2,282, Newmansville

Columbia, 2,102, Lancaster

Duvall, 4,156, Jacksonville

Hillsborough, 452, Fort Brooks

Leigh Reed, 73, New Smyrna

Nassau, 1,892, Nassau C. H.

St. John's, 2,694, St.
Augustine

South Florida

Dade, 416, Key Biscayune

Monroe, 688, Key West

Appalachicola
District

Calhoun, 1,142, St. Joseph

Franklin, 1,030, Appalachicola

Jackson, 4,681, Marianna

Washington, 859, Roche's Bluff

Tallahassee, in Leon county, 22 miles n. of St. Mark's, is the
seat of government.

The face of the country is uneven, but has no mountains or high
bills. A large portion of it is covered with pine forests, the
trees of which, standing at a considerable distance from each
other, without brush or underwood, afford an opportunity for
grass and flowers to spread luxuriantly over the surface of the
earth during the whole year. The borders of the streams are
usually skirted with hammocks, or hillocks, of hard timber,
covered with grape and other vines. A large portion of Florida
consists of pine barrens, much of which has a very poor soil;
still there are many extensive tracts of table land, hammock,
and swamp, of the richest soil, and well adapted to the
cultivation of sugar, rice, cotton, Indian corn, tobacco, and
fruits. A considerable quantity of the pine lands is equally
rich; and the barrens themselves afford extensive ranges of
grazing land, usually intersected with streams of pure water.
Many parts of the territory abound in yellow pine and live oak
timber. Majestic cedars, chestnuts, magnolias, with their large
white flowers, and cy-presses, with a straight stem of 80 or 90
feet, are found. The fig, pomegranate, orange, and date, are
among the fruits of Florida. Cotton forms the chief agricultural
production. The peninsula, which constitutes the southern
portion of the district, presents a singular alternation of
savannahs, hammocks, lagoons, and grass-ponds, called altogether
the everglades, which extend into the heart of the country for
200 miles n. of Cape Sable, and are drained northwardly by the
St. John's River.

There were in this territory, 1840, 12,043 horses and mules,
118,081 neat cattle, 7,198 sheep, 92,680 swine; poultry valued
at $01,007. There were produced 412 bushels of wheat, 13,829
oats, 898,974 Indian corn, 264,617 potatoes, 7,285 pounds of
wool, 1,197 tons of hay, 124 pounds of silk cocoons, 75,274
tobacco, 481,420 rice, 12,110,533 cotton, 275,317 sugar. Value
of the products of the dairy amounted to $23,094; and of the
orchard, $1,035.

The exports in 1840 were $1,858,850, and the imports were
$190,728. There were 23 commercial and 21 commission houses in
foreign trade, employing a capital of $542,000; 239 retail
dry-goods and other stores, with a capital of $1,240,380; 92
engaged in the lumber trade, with a capital of $61,050; 67
persons were employed in the fisheries, with a capital of
$10,000. Home-made or family articles manufactured to the amount
of $20,205; hats and caps manufactured to the amount of $1,500;
3 tanneries employed 15 persons, and a capital of $14,500; 10
other manufactories of leather, as saddleries, &c, manufactured
articles to the value of $6,200, employing a capital of $4,250;
136 produced bricks and lime to the amount of $37,600; 15
persons manufactured carriages and wagons to the amount of
$11,000, with a capital of $5,900; 62 grist, 65 saw, and 2 oil
mills, employed 410 persons, and produced to the amount of
$189,650, with a capital of $488,950. Ships were built to the
amount of $14,100. The whole amount of capital employed in
manufactures was $669,190.

There are many bays on the western side of the peninsula, which
form good harbors; the principal of which are Perdido,
Pensacola, Choctawhatchee, St. Joseph's, Appalachicola,
Appalachee, Tampa, Carlos, and Gallivans. There are none on the
eastern side; but rivers, inlets, and sounds, afford harbors for
coasting vessels. The principal capes are Canaveral, Florida,
Sable, at the southern extremity, Romans, and St. Bias. There
are many islands scattered along the coast, particularly a
cluster off the southern extremity, denominated the Florida
Keys, extending, in a curved form, 200 miles. Key West, on one
of these, named Thompson's Island, is a naval station, has a
good harbor, which is well sheltered, and admits the largest
vessels.

The principal river on the eastern side is the St. John's, which
rises within a short distance of the coast, and flows
northwardly, in a very crooked course, through several lakes; it
is often from 3 to 5 miles wide, and at other times, not one
fourth of a mile. It passes through a fine healthy country, and
vessels drawing 8 feet of water enter Lake George and Dun's
Lake, 150 miles from its mouth, which has a bar of 12 feet,
where it is only 1 mile wide. The Appalachicola River is formed
by the union of Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, about 100 miles
above the Gulf of Mexico, to which place vessels drawing 8 feet
water can proceed. The other principal rivers are the Escambia,
Suwannee, Withlacoochee, Oscilla, Ocklocony, and Choctawhatchee.
Rivers sometimes start out of the ground in a stream sufficient
to turn a mill, which seem to come from subterranean reservoirs,
and sometimes suddenly sink into the ground and disappear.

The principal towns are St. Augustine, the oldest town in the
United States, which was settled by the Spaniards, in 1564, and
is the chief town in East Florida; Pcnsacola, 10 miles from the
sea, on Pensacola bay; Tallahassee, the capital, and St. Mark's,
its port, 22 miles south of it, are the principal places in the
western part of Florida.

This territory has no college. There were in 1840, 18 academies
and grammar schools, with 732 students, and 51 common and
primary schools, with 925 scholars, and 1,303 white persons,
over 20 years of age, who could neither read nor write.

The Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Roman
Catholics, have each a few congregations and ministers.

At the commencement of 1840, the district had 5 banks and
branches, with an aggegate capital of $3,976,121, and a
circulation of $418,778. At the close of 1840, the debt of the
territory amounted to $3,900,000.

The governor is appointed by the President of the United States.
The legislative council is composed of a senate of 11 members,
elected for 2 years, and a house of representatives, composed of
29 members, chosen annually by the people in October. The
legislature meets annually at Tallahassee, the seat of
government, on the first Monday in January, and its sessions are
limited to 75 days. The pay of the members is $4 per day, and $4
for every 20 miles travel to and from the seat of government.

A railroad extends from Tallahassee 22 miles to St. Mark's. One
also extends from Lake Wicomico 12 miles to St. Joseph, and
another from St. Joseph 30 miles to Iola, on the Appalachicola.
Several other railroads and canals have been projected.

Florida was discovered by Sebastian Cabot, sailing under the
English flag and patronage, in 1497. Ponce de Leon, a Spanish
adventurer, from Hispaniola, explored the country in 1512 and
1516. In 1539, Hernando de Soto, who had been an officer under
Pizarro, sailed from the island of Cuba, of which he was
governor, with an armed force, with which he overran the
peninsula, though his followers were mostly cut off a few years
after, and himself died. The French attempted to establish a
colony in 1553, which occasioned contests between the French and
Spaniards, in which, after alternate successes, the latter were
victorious. In 1763 Florida was ceded to Great Britain by Spain,
in exchange for Havana. The Spanish re-conquered it in 1781, and
it was confirmed to them at the peace of 1783. In 1821 the
Spaniards ceded it to the United States, as a compensation for
their spoliations on the commerce of the United States. Since it
has been in possession of the United States, it has been
extensively the scene of warfare with the Indians. The Seminoles
were subdued in 1818 by the Americans, under General Jackson. A
portion of this tribe, who refused to emigrate to the lands
assigned to them beyond the Mississippi, have recently carried
on a tedious and expensive war with the United States.

Florida, cape, a promontory on the s. e. coast of Florida,
situated on the s. w. end of an island called Key Biscayune. A
light-house was erected here to mark the entrance of Hawk's
channel, which was burned by the Seminoles. It was situated in
28° 15' N. lat., and 3° 22' w. Ion. From W.

Copyright August @2011 - 2019
AHGP - Judy White
For
the exclusive use and benefit of The American
History and Genealogy Project. All rights reserved.
We encourage links, but please do not copy our work